Secrets
by Pink Bunny Ears
Summary: Everyone has things they don't talk about. Knuckles can't see why this is such a big deal.
1. Chapter 1

He should have known better than leave Sonic roam the Floating Island on his own. He had no idea how the blue hedgehog got the information or what forces made him draw the conclusion and probably never would now. All he did know was that he had definitely been unaware of… well, anything, before his short stroll, so the stroll had to be the cause.

He'd become sloppy, too used to Shadow visiting. Shadow could be left to his own devices. Shadow was good at figuring things out, but he knew how to take a hint. Shadow knew how to leave things well alone.

But Sonic wasn't Shadow. And it was too late now.

"Were you ever going to tell us?"

It wasn't the question itself but the serious undertone that caught Knuckles off guard. He whirled around before he could catch himself, only to be faced with an eyebrow arched and a restless tapping of a foot.

"What?.."

"I said," Sonic repeated, his patient voice contrasting sharply with his body language, "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"I have no clue…"

"Eggman," he said simply, succinctly, then paused and waited. Sure, his body still radiated impatience and he seemed unable to stop moving even for a moment, but the action, or rather lack thereof, seemed so uncharacteristic that Knuckles couldn't help but let his jaw drop slightly. What on Mobius?..

Some of the vibrating tension seemed to dissipate as Sonic let out a small sigh, apparently seeing no understanding dawn.

"When you said he had crashed on your island," he clarified, his voice still oddly controlled if with a tiny bit of annoyance shining through. "Was there another thing that you simply forgot to mention?"

Bafflement gave way to irritation in a matter of seconds.

"I don't see how this is any of your business," he said, already turning on his heels to walk away.

"This is precisely what I am talking about!" was yelled into his back, the annoyance now clear.

He didn't turn. He wasn't followed. He knew better than expect it to last.


	2. Chapter 2

"And he just didn't think to mention it, like it was some… I dunno… boring little detail or something!"

Tails chewed at the tip of his screwdriver as if it was a pencil, stared at the ceiling, then nodded and turned back to his work in silence. Sonic made a turn and strode 3 steps to an opposite contraption-filled wall of the workshop before having to turn again, the distance of another 3 steps awaiting him.

By Chaos, this place was cramped. Couldn't Tails find a larger room to work in?

Then again, better not let Chaos make design decisions for buildings if Station Square was anything to go by.

Tails regarded the bolts in front of him thoughtfully, picked up one, considering, then shook his head and dropped it, opting for the longer one instead.

"I mean, we've given him hell for it for as long as we knew him!" Sonic returned to his previous line of thought. "And here he had a good reason for it all along!"

"Did you two fight?"

Half-an-hour rant of how annoying Knuckles the Echidna could be, and that was what Tails wanted to know. Figures.

Did they, anyway? He stopped his pacing, pondering. They didn't punch or spinball each other, but was it a fight?

Of course Tails interpreted his silence in his own way and sighed.

"Sonic, you have to be more patient with him. You know he's not good at this, especially with his pride on the line."

"Well, he's still an idiot," Sonic mumbled stubbornly. Nah, not a fight, just Knuckles being his usual difficult self. "What does pride have to do with it anyway?"

Tails shrugged. "It's Eggman. He's been tricking him since forever, remember? No wonder Knuckles doesn't like discussing it."

Well, Tails had a point there. But still…

"Is there even anything he likes discussing?"

Tails paused in his work, thinking. "Umm… maybe your less than successful moments?"

Just what exactly happened to his little bro while he was away? He never used to be this… blunt. Case in point, he never seemed to notice that Sonic even had moments that were less than successful.

If this was a sign of growing up, he wasn't prepared to deal with this too.

"Perhaps you should leave him alone for a while," Tails suggested without a pause. "Let him blow off some steam and come up with a better strategy."

Better strategy, huh? Maybe he could think of something…

"Sonic! Are you here?" Amy's voice resonated in the hall. "I've been looking all over for you! There's something I need to…"

…on his way to Angel Island.


	3. Chapter 3

Knuckles pinched a grape from a bunch and sighed in contentment, leaning against the wooden wall and enjoying his peace and quiet. The island was undisturbed, the weather was warm and sunny with little to no wind, and washed, cut fruit were laid out carefully on wooden trays next to the house, drying in the sunlight. His supply of nuts was good that year too and he had gathered plenty of herbs, so if nothing went wrong he was almost stocked up for the winter.

He would check on his garden later that day, seeing as it was too hot to water the plants now. Maybe he'd need to weed them too. The seeds Cream had given him took well to growing on the island but required extra care, unlike the ones that grew here naturally. It took him a while to get a hand on it, but he didn't mind the additional work. It never hurt to have an extra supply of provisions, especially now that he had to think about his occasional visitors too.

…Some of them more welcome than others.

Knuckles closed his eyes and popped another grape into his mouth, stubbornly ignoring the sound of quiet footsteps approaching. He'd recognize them anywhere regardless. Perhaps if he pretended to be asleep…

"Hey there, Red."

"I thought I told you to leave," Knuckles commented without opening his eyes, too relaxed to muster up any annoyance for now. On the second thought, maybe he should have made it clear to stay away too.

"Amy was visiting." As if it was all the explanation required.

Knuckles sighed and gave up, opening his eyes to find Sonic looking at the drying fruit curiously, as if seeing it for the first time.

"You'd better not touch any of that," he grumbled out of habit. It wasn't like Sonic would be stopped by the threat if he truly wanted to help himself. And if he were honest, Knuckles wouldn't have terribly minded if he had snitched a couple. Not that Sonic was ever that interested in dried fruit, really, unless he ate it just for the sake of ruffling Knuckles' quills.

To his surprise Sonic almost looked uncomfortable at that, and wariness stirred in Knuckles' gut.

Sonic rubbed the nape of his neck, shifted foot to foot, exhaled and eventually spoke, looking as uneasy as Knuckles felt. "You know…. um… if you run out of supplies, or um, need anything in winter, and not just winter, I mean, you can always call us, right?"

Why would he?.. Knuckles nodded; they've had this conversation before, even though it's been a while.

"Good," Sonic nodded too. There was a long pause. "So um, I know it can be quite harsh in here sometimes, with the weather and different people constantly attacking you and Chaos knows what else, and you've barely had anyone to rely on, so I get it. I do. But we've dealt with plenty of horrible stuff too, you know, and it's not like we can't handle it, so if you could trust us a little bit more…"

"What are you rambling on about?" Knuckles interrupted.

Sonic looked him directly in the eye, visibly steeling himself. "If anything happens again, and I mean anything, I'd rather you came to us for help rather than asking _him_."

Knuckles couldn't believe it. Was that really what it was about? Give it to Sonic to get so worked up over something so small. Weren't he and Shadow long over their feud?

"I know you two don't get along, but I assure you he comes and goes on his own volition. He does have his uses sometimes, as well as a good timing, but I never asked him to help me."

Sonic's eyes widened at that and he took a step backwards in his surprise. "How can you be so casual about this? He's an enemy, Red! We can't trust him! Especially you, I thought you'd have learned that over the years!"

Anger flared up, and Knuckles jumped onto his feet in a second, his fists clenched tight. "Are you saying I'm so stupid I can't choose who my friends are?"

Sonic gave an exaggerated eye roll at that, crossing his arms on his chest. "Or for the sake of…! Just try and think about it for a second, Knucklehead!"

Knuckles closed the distance between him and punched, Sonic dodged, and that was the end of the Master Emerald's Guardian's peaceful afternoon.


End file.
